This invention is directed to an improved cap for bottles of carbonated beverages. It is designed to serve not only as a closure for the bottle, but also as a means for developing a desirable pressurized condition within the bottle and its contents after the bottle has been previously opened. The cap is preferably intended for use as a replacement for the original cap after the bottle has been opened.
The appeal of a carbonated beverage to the consumer is the sparkling escaping bubbles that pleasantly stir the imagination and pleasurably tingle the nose as one drinks a carbonated beverage poured from a freshly opened bottle. Unfortunately however, soon after the initial opening, much of the bubbly life of the beverage is progressively dissipated. The usual recapping of the once opened bottle and its subsequent storage tend to further reduce the bouyancy of the beverage. Subsequent pourings from the bottle are, accordingly, noticeably flat and without the pickle and tingle so characteristic of the beverage flowing from a freshly opened bottle.
The general purpose of the present invention is to provide an efficient and beneficial means for continuing the sparkling and bubbling attributes of a carbonated beverage after the bottle has been initially opened and until the contents of the bottle is exhausted.
And, more particularly, the object of this invention is to provide for a bottle containing a carbonated beverage a replacement cap which is adapted to serve both as an air pump for re-pressurizing the contents of a previously opened bottle and as a closure for maintaining the pressurized condition until the bottle is again opened.